John 1:19-27, The Messenger

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22 So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

While John denied that he was the Messiah, he also revealed that the Messiah was among them but hidden. He stood among them, yet they, who were the experts in the law, sent by the Pharisees, who were the preeminent religiously educated group of the day, were blind and could not see him, even in their midst. People were confessing their sins and coming forward for baptism by John as a sign of their repentance, acknowledging their place before God.

One might imagine the disgust of these men that John, who did not have their pedigree or education, thought that he would be able to reveal the Messiah to them. In humility, however, he declares that he is not even worthy to untie the Messiah’s dirty shoes, which was the work of the lowest of the slaves. John understood his place and his position in the coming of the Messiah. It was the Pharisees and their minions who had it wrong.

What is your place in regard to Jesus? Do you see yourself as exalted yet humbled at the same time? As a child of God, ask the Lord to help you know who you are like John the baptizer knew who he was, and then ask Jesus to use you today for his purposes.